Genealogy

Rods and cones

Call it generational bias. Blame it on the way history is taught in school (with one exception, in my case). The world before 1960 seems black and white. I hear it in the stories older generations tell. It’s not, of course. The world isn’t just filled with gray, it’s filled with all the colors of the spectrum. I’ve been fooling around with a birthday gift the last few days…
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Kitchen Sink

Just passing through

People come and go in my life, like passengers on a subway. We share a small piece of our lives until opportunity, circumstance, or chance steers us to another train. I’m used to it, and I’m not. I know it happens, then it does, and I get over it. I’ve been really lucky. It’s been a pleasure to share my ride with most of the people I’ve bumped into along the way. Pat…
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Wellbeing

Love thy couch

Pre-post warnings are not a good way to win over readers. I recognize this, yet I ignore it. If you’re here you’ve probably either learned to overlook my poor habits or you find them a little endearing. Oh my! The headache meds are working just fine now! All of my posts start with a single sentence. When you write you probably start with a single sentence too – unless you have a…
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Kitchen Sink

Letter I wrote

I was going to hold off on this post for another week, but I really need to write something happy today. The following is a letter I wrote to a good friend a number of years ago (blame the 2001 me for the writing). — It was the beginning of my second year at UF and it was a terrible semester. I was unsure of my future plans and I was lonely. After my first year (in the dorms), a group of my…
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Wellbeing

It's all my fault

You don’t want to read this post. Why am I writing it then? Therapy. I have a theory for why I’ve been feeling down lately, and the title to this post is a strong clue. Since it’s apparent no one else is ever at fault for things that go wrong, the logical conclusion is it must be my fault. When everything is your fault and you accept responsibility – even if it’s just…
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Beth

Kid comforts dad

I had another conversation with Beth about bullies in school this evening. Once again I tried to explain why some kids are mean. Once again dad didn’t have all the answers. “You know, I was a bit like you when I was in school. Kids thought I was a little different and they picked on me a lot too. You may get a little of that from me. I’m really sorry.” “You…
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Wellbeing

A better kind of blue

I’m happy to report the blue post is still on the back-burner. The weekend was just too good. Well, it wasn’t great. It wasn’t even very good. But you know what? Every day doesn’t have to be great. They can’t, not for me anyway. I grade days on a curve. Folks cringe when I say I’m ok, but that’s the meat of my curve. What’s wrong with ok? I’ll…
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